Natalie Morales is one of a handful of comic female actors who have expanded their movie portfolio into directing, screenwriting and producing, but made her feature debut in a drama in a supporting role in director Oliver Stone’s long-awaited sequel,
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010), starring Michael Douglas, Shia LaBeouf, Josh Brolin,
Carey Mulligan, Frank Langella,
Susan Sarandon and Eli Wallach, premiering out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival and released by 20
th Century Fox to a good $134.7 million return (against $70 million costs).
Morales was cast more characteristically in the rom-com
Going the Distance (2010), which starred Drew Barrymore and Justin Long under Nanette Burstein’s direction and was released by Warner Bros. to a poor box office ($32 million). Morales co-starred in her first prominent screen role in director/writer/star Blayne Weaver’s comedy,
6 Month Rule (2011), with Martin Starr and John Michael Higgins, and released by Abramorama/Secret Identity Pictures after premiering at the Austin Film Festival.
Morales was cast as Rosie Casals in the historical sports comedy-drama,
Battle of the Sexes (2017), starring
Emma Stone,
Steve Carell, Andrea Riseborough, Elisabeth Shue, Bill Pullman and Sarah Silverman, under Valerie Faris’s and Jonathan Dayton’s direction, and which premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and released by Fox Searchlight Pictures to a disappointing $18.6 million return.
Morales delivered a voice performance (as Miss Calleros) in the animated MCU-Sony
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), starring the voices of
Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson,
Hailee Steinfeld,
Mahershala Ali,
Brian Tyree Henry, Lily Tomlin,
Nicolas Cage and
Liev Schreiber under the co-direction Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman, produced and co-written by Phil Lord (with Rothman), and which grossed $394 million on a $90 million budget. Morales co-starred in the
Michael Dowse-directed action comedy,
Stuber (2019), alongside
Kumail Nanjiani and
Dave Bautista, premiering at the South by Southwest Film Festival before a 20
th Century Fox release, returning $32 million.
Natalie Morales had a supporting role in director/writer/producer John Lee Hancock’s crime thriller,
The Little Things (2021), starring Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, and
Jared Leto, earning disappointing results for Warner Bros. Morales made a major career shift with her debut as star/director/co-writer of the drama,
Language Lessons (2021), with co-writer/co-star Mark Duplass, and which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and released by Shout! Studios.
Morales appeared in a supporting role in director/writer BenDavid Grabinski’s comedy thriller released by Saban Films,
Happily (2021), with Joel McHale, Kerry Bishé and Stephen Root, followed by Morales co-starring with Jillian Bell in the sci-if comedy,
I’m Totally Fine (2022), directed by Brandon Dermer and released by Decal, and Morales playing opposite co-stars
Jennifer Lawrence and
Andrew Barth Feldman in director/co-writer
Gene Stupnitsky’s sex comedy,
No Hard Feelings (2023), co-starring Laura Benanti and Matthew Broderick, and grossing a fair $87 million for Sony Pictures Releasing.
Natalie Morales co-starred with
Sonequa Martin-Green, Morgan Freeman, and
Ed Harris in co-writer/director
Kyle Hausmann-Stokes’ semi-autobiographical comedy-drama,
My Dead Friend Zoe (2025), with
Gloria Reuben and Utkarsh Ambudkar, premiering at the South by Southwest Film Festival and released wide by distributor Briarcliff Entertainment.
